When I was in high school the first week of x-country practice was really hard. You go from not really running to running 10-12 miles per day. So by the end of the first week, you hurt. All over, your biceps, your abs, your shoulders, your neck and those are the things that just swing, you can imagine what your legs are like. While I was in High School I discovered a secret to beat all this.
Protein shakes! Sure they don't taste great, but being someone who likes to cook I doctored them up into something delicious! I made protein shake root beer floats, with cookies-n-cream ice cream because that's my favorite, or if I didn't have root beer then a Protein shake malts.
Annnnddd... They were amazing you could literally feel the soreness go away. I would drink 5 serving per day. Sure maybe it was placebo, but it worked and they were a whopping 3000 calories but I am pretty sure we were burning that during our workouts. Anyway, it was like an ace in the hole. Guys would be hurtin' but I would feel only mildly sore and I could finish the workouts hard.
SO fast forward to today. Yesterday I ran 5 miles for the first time in over a month. It was probably the 10-15th time I've run since the baby was born. I was sore, I could feel it the moment I got off the treadmill. It was that kind of sore that you instantly know you're gonna hurt tomorrow and makes you scared of the next 36 hours. So, I resorted to my old trick, though not as big because 3000 calories today will just make me fat. Within hours the soreness started receding, and this morning I feel 90%, today I'll run 5 miles again. It is part of my plan to shock my body and to at least get it ready to survive some of this 50k, but lets be realistic I'm gonna need a lot of protein shakes to recover from this dumb idea.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Christmas!
Well now we're far enough away from Christmas to start thinking of New Year's eve so before I forget I figured I would tell everyone about our Christmas day.
Christmas Excitement
I worked on Christmas Eve and when I went to lunch I saw an good deal on something I wanted to buy the wife, but the stores never had one because they were sold out due to a Thanksgiving sale they were struggling to maintain stock on. I thought I had found one and after a little negotiating (I never buy big items without at LEAST a 10% discount) I got the item at 15% off!! :-) There was however a catch, the store I bought it from was not the store where the item was located. Nevertheless, I was soooo excited, that I left work early at 2:30 to go pick up the item and return my wife's gift I had bought her, some boots. After returning the boots I headed to the store to pick up her new gift, and I was beaming with excitement!! I went up to the customer service desk to pick up my item only to be met with a disappointed clerk that said, there was a mistake and they didn't have the item in stock. Apparently, he explained, their computers only update twice per day and someone had purchased the item between the last and next update. :-(
Now Regret
So at this point my head is spinning on what to do. I now have NOTHING for Christmas... WHY did I take the boots back? Why did I do this on impulse? I thought in my head disaster! So I started thinking ok IF maybe there was a mistake to I started asking people, they checked the back of the store, nothing. There was a nicer gift in the same style as the one I purchased for her but it was more than twice what I paid for the one I THOUGHT I was getting! Hope was fading for a Happy Christmas for the wifey.
Not Really a Miracle
After trying to strike a deal with several people to purchase the more expensive gift and getting about 10% off. The manager got involved and this is where magical things started happening. At this point I am very close to being defeated. I know achieving the deal I want was probably not going to happen and I can't go back to the store and re-purchase the boots I just returned. So I asked the manager for a deal on the gift, but I told her if not can I just get an empty box for the display so that I don't just have a receipt on Christmas Day. Then when you get more in on Jan 5th I'll return the box and pick up my wife's gift. I know, I know, it sounded like a sad attempt to get a deal but it really wasn't and she seemed to be ignoring me anyway as she furiously typed in the computer. A few moments later she said, "Ok the best deal I can do is $, would you like to buy this?" I struggled to maintain composure because she gave me 30% off!!! I couldn't believe it. It was brand new, no open box, no returned item. Brand new!! As calm as I could, I politely said, "Yes!", and they processed my purchased and I ran out of there fearing they would change their minds. I love negotiating but sometimes you just get lucky.
The Real Fun
So Christmas Day I gave it to her with excitement and I think she loved it. However, I was surprised by what made the day for me. It was our baby scratching at the boxes with her little fingers, every once in a while catching the end of the wrapping paper and pulling a half-dollar size off. It was really great. She has no clue what was happening, or "the meaning of Christmas." But what she continues to show me, is if I love her as much as I do, and I enjoy watching her learn, play and explore and try new things. I cannot fathom God's love for me, for us. I have no explanation for why I don't trust His love as much as I want her to trust my love, especially knowing, I'll fail her, but He'll never fail anyone. The depth of His love is really something I'll never understand.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Seriously, I'm gonna die
and not in the, "We're all gonna die some day... blah blah blah!" I don't like to blog about the same thing repeatedly but seriously there is not stopping the approaching doom I'm about to face.
That whole schedule of running 5 miles per day and 1000 flight of stairs per day, it was just reality in my head, and while I was typing it out in the blog world. In the real world, it was cold this week, I was tired this week. I did not get up and run, I did not do anything. Oh wait that's not true, I just remember I did do something this week. I went on two short walks with the wife and kid(s), in our fancy BOB stroller that I bought to run with, but I'm sure it didn't do anything to counter-act the 1430 calories of my favorite type of candy (fruit jelly pure sugar kind) I received from Santa
I know what your thinking, "YIKES!! 1430 calories!!" But relax I didn't eat them in one day, it took me a full 36 hours to eat them all. That's only 40 calories an hour, unfortunately it amounts to almost 1/2 lb of fat no matter how you look at it.
So now you know why I'm so sure I'll die, and you know why I had to share with you again my failure to get back on the horse of physical torture they call endurance sports.
That whole schedule of running 5 miles per day and 1000 flight of stairs per day, it was just reality in my head, and while I was typing it out in the blog world. In the real world, it was cold this week, I was tired this week. I did not get up and run, I did not do anything. Oh wait that's not true, I just remember I did do something this week. I went on two short walks with the wife and kid(s), in our fancy BOB stroller that I bought to run with, but I'm sure it didn't do anything to counter-act the 1430 calories of my favorite type of candy (fruit jelly pure sugar kind) I received from Santa
I know what your thinking, "YIKES!! 1430 calories!!" But relax I didn't eat them in one day, it took me a full 36 hours to eat them all. That's only 40 calories an hour, unfortunately it amounts to almost 1/2 lb of fat no matter how you look at it.
So now you know why I'm so sure I'll die, and you know why I had to share with you again my failure to get back on the horse of physical torture they call endurance sports.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
AHHHH!! Bandera 50k
OMG!! Really January 9th, might be the last day I'm alive. At best it might be the day I survived but lost any kind of status as an athlete.
I really haven't run in probably 4 weeks. Sad but true! And prior to that I had only run about 7 or 8 times since the baby arrived 6 months ago. If you miss a few days or even a week or two there isn't much difference that goes on in your body. Any perceived change is mostly mental. It takes more than 2 weeks to really start noticing an effect in your performance. Well for me it has been 6 months. I was supposed to compete in a 1/2 Ironman race the day the baby was born and can confidently say I was in the best shape of my life. Just under 6% body fat, able to swim more than 2 miles without stopping, bike 56miles maintaining a 21mph speed, and run a 1/2 marathon with a 7min/mile pace, all on the same day without a rest in between. NOW if I could just swim 2 miles, I'd be happy. I don't even want to bike 56 miles and when I ran the Rock-n-Roll 1/2 I was just happy it was over. But 50k is 31 miles and it is 31 miles of rough terrain, steep hills, and loose soil. I am sitting here thinking what was I thinking?!
The only good news is I've got a partner that is faster than me, which will help me push harder. I have a good idea and experience on how to handle my nutrition during the race and hopefully enough experience to know when to take it easy. We were supposed to do the 100k, but due to my partner's injury we're cutting it to the 50k so if anything I can just be glad I'm only doing half what we originally planned.
Here's what I'm thinking, I'm going to start running 5miles every day in the morning, and 1000 flights of stairs on the stair-treadmill thing at the gym. It might not do much but at least maybe I can shock my body back into shape. Pray for me!!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Teething!!
Ok so you hear stories about how teething is terrible and how the babies hate it. Well I can now say to other parents I feel your pain.
The baby is cutting teeth! The past week she just didn't seem like herself, we thought she was just tired from all the traveling we did. All the while people were saying, I think she's teething but we would feel her gums and look and we wouldn't see anything. This weekend pretty much everyone said, she's teething, but we would feel her gums, look and see nothing. Then last night, my mom and grandmother took one look at ther and said, she's teething!
My mom pulled her bottom lip back and NOTHING! Then she pulled her top lip up and there they were. 4 little teeth, clear as day! Turns out, I didn't know how to feel or look for teeth. I was looking in the wrong place. Someone should do a better job written how to check for teeth. I thought I was follow the directions correctly BUT I wasn't.
Anyway it was a huge relief because I was starting to think all this sleep loss had messed her up. Normally one good nap fixes all problems for miss Daisy, but not this time. So to have an explanation was good. Now hopefully we'll get through these teeth and have a few months before the bottom ones show up.
Monday, December 21, 2009
A Brookshire-Katy Christmas
Well I was really looking forward to this weekend, I always have a lot of fun with my wife's family at their Christmas.
BUT this time we had a baby, the day (Saturday) started out great! The baby slept the whole way to Katy but then all the stimulation and everything going around the baby didn't sleep again!! She was miserable, normally she is a great baby. Happy, smiley and just all around content with life. This time she was miserable and everything made her cry and she didn't want to be anywhere but held. It ruined my day. My wife and I fought and it pretty much zapped all the energy out of me. Things were a little better on Sunday because she got two 1 hour naps but we were in a hole from the day before and so our normally smilely baby just looked and didn't interact much. Hopefully she'll be able to recover from this weekend today and be back to her normal smilely self tonight.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Business as Usual
Ok so I've been really spending probably too much time on this business thing. I have made a bunch of spreadsheets, with all sorts of formulas. They are really cool, you can change one field and about another dozen fields updates how the changes effects your profits.
Change and employees pay or hours and BAM! the 20 things update related to the bottom line. Update the price per sq-ft for the land or building costs and BAM! you can see how it effects the bottom line. Ok you get the point it is fun and since I love numbers it is really fun.
BUT here is what I've realized... this thing could have positive cash flow from day one. It should be a gold-mind of potential earnings. It should easily pay for itself and then some. My estimates is that we could pay off the mortgage in as little as 4 years but by 10 years by conservative estimates.
Of course there is always some kind of problem, not everything can be rosy. This is really best with 100k to 200k investment. It will work with just the measly 50k I have but I would like something more guaranteed so 150k is perfect. It is almost fail-proof with that in ital investment.
Cue the doubt! Now what do I do? Risk 50k for something that should still work but be more vulnerable? Find an investor who is going to want 50% ownership or more of the business? Oh, what to do? What to do? What to do?
If you want to invest, I was thinking of selling shares at $50 a piece. I'm estimating the minimum annual dividend would be between 1-3%. The great news is according to miniature golf course owners, the potential could be as high as 69% per year!! Based on their projected gross revenue. The really bad news is, just like any business it can fail.
20 shares ($1000) would get you 1% ownership.
Change and employees pay or hours and BAM! the 20 things update related to the bottom line. Update the price per sq-ft for the land or building costs and BAM! you can see how it effects the bottom line. Ok you get the point it is fun and since I love numbers it is really fun.
BUT here is what I've realized... this thing could have positive cash flow from day one. It should be a gold-mind of potential earnings. It should easily pay for itself and then some. My estimates is that we could pay off the mortgage in as little as 4 years but by 10 years by conservative estimates.
Of course there is always some kind of problem, not everything can be rosy. This is really best with 100k to 200k investment. It will work with just the measly 50k I have but I would like something more guaranteed so 150k is perfect. It is almost fail-proof with that in ital investment.
Cue the doubt! Now what do I do? Risk 50k for something that should still work but be more vulnerable? Find an investor who is going to want 50% ownership or more of the business? Oh, what to do? What to do? What to do?
If you want to invest, I was thinking of selling shares at $50 a piece. I'm estimating the minimum annual dividend would be between 1-3%. The great news is according to miniature golf course owners, the potential could be as high as 69% per year!! Based on their projected gross revenue. The really bad news is, just like any business it can fail.
20 shares ($1000) would get you 1% ownership.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Big Business
So I met with the Agents for the piece of land I want to build a miniature golf course on. I was plenty nervous but after a few minutes the nerves were calm. The whole thing went really good, I had a lot of questions they answered, I got a good feel for what they want and they got to ask me a lot of questions about what I wanted. It was a good meeting; before, this whole idea was abunch of e-mails, and business plan words and excel spreedsheet numbers. I guess it is similar to looking at houses on-line, it only gets you so far, but when you actually go with your realtor to see a house it really helps define what you want and/or what you can afford.
So I think I've firmed up my decision for where I want the course, now I need to find an design/construction company to design everything and get me a number that I can get financing for. It would be really helpful to have 100k right now, I don't think I need it but if I had 100k of liquid cash this whole thing could start happening next week.
Part of doing this thing will require us to sell our house, which is no big deal emotionally for us, but it is a lot of work and some money and then there is the question of where will we live? A lot of change but I am convinced this is a great opportunity especially with the way the market is.
So I think I've firmed up my decision for where I want the course, now I need to find an design/construction company to design everything and get me a number that I can get financing for. It would be really helpful to have 100k right now, I don't think I need it but if I had 100k of liquid cash this whole thing could start happening next week.
Part of doing this thing will require us to sell our house, which is no big deal emotionally for us, but it is a lot of work and some money and then there is the question of where will we live? A lot of change but I am convinced this is a great opportunity especially with the way the market is.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Post-Op
Alright I'm feeling pretty good. Yesterday I only took Advil, and everything seems alright. Today I'm gonna see what no pain meds feels like and so far everything is good.
SO I'm gonna get on the trainer today. I'll try and take it easy, nothing to crazy, but I need to get going on this training deal since I have a 1/2 Ironman coming up in 7 months plus this 100k/50k race.
My 100k running partner got hurt. Whew! I'm sad she got hurt because that is no fun, it just plain sucks BUT the good news out of it is that I don't have to endure one of the toughest tests I could imagine. However, it looks like she wants to do the 50k which is going to be really hard so I guess I'm not quite off the hook yet.
In other news I'm going to meet with the Plum Creek guys on Thursday. I'm nervous, I really want this mini golf idea to work and I'm about 2 steps away from needing to put my name on paper and put some money on the line. It is a great idea, one that will work and one I'm willing to make my job. I think God has provided some of the means, we'll see what happens.
SO I'm gonna get on the trainer today. I'll try and take it easy, nothing to crazy, but I need to get going on this training deal since I have a 1/2 Ironman coming up in 7 months plus this 100k/50k race.
My 100k running partner got hurt. Whew! I'm sad she got hurt because that is no fun, it just plain sucks BUT the good news out of it is that I don't have to endure one of the toughest tests I could imagine. However, it looks like she wants to do the 50k which is going to be really hard so I guess I'm not quite off the hook yet.
In other news I'm going to meet with the Plum Creek guys on Thursday. I'm nervous, I really want this mini golf idea to work and I'm about 2 steps away from needing to put my name on paper and put some money on the line. It is a great idea, one that will work and one I'm willing to make my job. I think God has provided some of the means, we'll see what happens.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Whew! That wasn't so bad afterall
Ok so I was kind of worried about the recovery time for having my gall bladder taken out. I don't know if the Doc was just not telling me the full story in June but he told me that I could be down for one or two few days. I could be back to training for 1/2 Ironmans and triathlons in no time in less than a week.
BUT this time around he said 3 weeks, prefaced by you're in good shape so maybe a little less. That's a radical change if you ask me, and one that is much longer than I really wanted to even if I don't really have time for training right now.
Good news!! Today I feel good, my bell button (where they pulled out the gall bladder) is the sorest part of me. I've eaten my normal breakfast, played with the baby and did some work from home. Now I'm just waiting on wintery weather, that I'm starting to get skeptical about. It is 8am and above 37 degrees and all the precip is off to the far Southeast.
I want to take my wife for all the support she gives me!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Bandera 100k
Ok so this race is looming... there are just 40 days until the race. I have to sign up for the race by Dec 12th or I have to pay extra. So I have just 12 days to decide whether running 62miles is going to be a good idea.
Saturday I ran with my running group and got to meet the new person, who has actually been running with the group for about 2 months now, and it went alright. I finished the 10 miles and felt pretty good afterward although my speed seems to have left me. I do have 40 days so I think I can do some work by then.
This is crazy!!
Saturday I ran with my running group and got to meet the new person, who has actually been running with the group for about 2 months now, and it went alright. I finished the 10 miles and felt pretty good afterward although my speed seems to have left me. I do have 40 days so I think I can do some work by then.
This is crazy!!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thanksgiving
Ok, so I bet every blog in the world has been updated with something the writer is thankful for, but before I get started. I'll tell you about my week.
I sold the truck, it is done money deposited, truck keys handed over. I just hope the guy enjoys the truck as much as we did and that it doesn't break down or something terrible like that. However, with my luck you never know. During the completion of the sale of the truck I gave him the wrong title!! Apparently I placed the wrong title in the truck file in my filing cabinet. So he calls me and of course he lives in Burnet, which isn't close. Ugh!! plus to make it worse, according to the back of my title for the Impala he owns it! So on Monday I have to figure out how to fix that problem. Sunday or Monday I'm gonna try and meet the guy to give him the correct title.
My in-laws have let us borrow their truck, and now they are offering to give us a car free. And actually give it to us to the point where we can sell it and keep the proceeds. This is attractive because we could save up the 5k we got for the truck, plus the proceeds from the sale of the Rav-4 to pay for a potentially much newer car than what we originally intended to buy. I can't see why there is any reason to say, "no" other than my thoughts that I don't want them to think we're taking advantage of them if we decide to do something other than buy a much newer car. Plus today when I was chatting with my wife, the thought crossed my mind that it could be a way I come up with 10k to start the design process for my business plans. I don't know what to do!!!
BUT here's what I'm thankful for, and I hate sappiness so understand I'm not joking or trying to be sappy.
1. I am forgiven in Christ Jesus, and I can pray and ask for guidance and that I know no matter my decision, he's got a plan for me to be used by him in the spread of his gospel.
2. My wife. She is so patient and loves me unconditionally. I always envy how quickly my dogs will be scolded by me but yet desire my love, but I envy D'Lane's quick forgiveness. I feel inadequate when compared to her.
3. My daughter. She is more than I could have ever wanted. I told God I was pleased with his provision whatever it might turn out but now that she is here, I could have never asked for what he gave me.
4. My family. They are amazing and supportive. They care about me and my wife and our baby. What more could I ask for from them, yet they are willing to give me what they have up to all they can.
Not sappy... I'm not capable, because I like to pretend I am a robot.
I sold the truck, it is done money deposited, truck keys handed over. I just hope the guy enjoys the truck as much as we did and that it doesn't break down or something terrible like that. However, with my luck you never know. During the completion of the sale of the truck I gave him the wrong title!! Apparently I placed the wrong title in the truck file in my filing cabinet. So he calls me and of course he lives in Burnet, which isn't close. Ugh!! plus to make it worse, according to the back of my title for the Impala he owns it! So on Monday I have to figure out how to fix that problem. Sunday or Monday I'm gonna try and meet the guy to give him the correct title.
My in-laws have let us borrow their truck, and now they are offering to give us a car free. And actually give it to us to the point where we can sell it and keep the proceeds. This is attractive because we could save up the 5k we got for the truck, plus the proceeds from the sale of the Rav-4 to pay for a potentially much newer car than what we originally intended to buy. I can't see why there is any reason to say, "no" other than my thoughts that I don't want them to think we're taking advantage of them if we decide to do something other than buy a much newer car. Plus today when I was chatting with my wife, the thought crossed my mind that it could be a way I come up with 10k to start the design process for my business plans. I don't know what to do!!!
BUT here's what I'm thankful for, and I hate sappiness so understand I'm not joking or trying to be sappy.
1. I am forgiven in Christ Jesus, and I can pray and ask for guidance and that I know no matter my decision, he's got a plan for me to be used by him in the spread of his gospel.
2. My wife. She is so patient and loves me unconditionally. I always envy how quickly my dogs will be scolded by me but yet desire my love, but I envy D'Lane's quick forgiveness. I feel inadequate when compared to her.
3. My daughter. She is more than I could have ever wanted. I told God I was pleased with his provision whatever it might turn out but now that she is here, I could have never asked for what he gave me.
4. My family. They are amazing and supportive. They care about me and my wife and our baby. What more could I ask for from them, yet they are willing to give me what they have up to all they can.
Not sappy... I'm not capable, because I like to pretend I am a robot.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Sold!
Well the truck is gone... now we have to find another vehicle. I'm not so worried about that because it happens to be a holiday week and so I have some time to look around. Plus my in-laws are letting us borrow their truck in the meantime. I am really apreciative of that because it doesn't make this something we have to rush on AND I don't have to ride my bike every day to work.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Training
This blog was supposed to be about training for a 100k run, BUT I haven't really been training well. However, last night I did get on my new trainer.
I didn't really want to workout but I don't have much time before the 100k and I'm gaining weight. SO I told myself, "the baby should be waking up soon, I'll ride until then." Only problem is the baby didn't wake up for another hour and 20 minutes. She was pretty tired apparently.
I only rode for 30minutes because I'm outta shape and the dogs started licking the sweat drops off the floor, but it was a good workout. Much better than the stationary bike at the gym and I burned 421kcals in 30 minutes with an average heart rate of 133bpm and a max of 164bpm. That put me in my fat burning zone for 11 mins and I managed to burn 50% of those calories as fat. So good workout, my legs had that great I've just rode my bike hard feeling.
I didn't really want to workout but I don't have much time before the 100k and I'm gaining weight. SO I told myself, "the baby should be waking up soon, I'll ride until then." Only problem is the baby didn't wake up for another hour and 20 minutes. She was pretty tired apparently.
I only rode for 30minutes because I'm outta shape and the dogs started licking the sweat drops off the floor, but it was a good workout. Much better than the stationary bike at the gym and I burned 421kcals in 30 minutes with an average heart rate of 133bpm and a max of 164bpm. That put me in my fat burning zone for 11 mins and I managed to burn 50% of those calories as fat. So good workout, my legs had that great I've just rode my bike hard feeling.
The unknown
Well as tough and heartless as I appear to be sometimes, or as I like to say confident. I have to admit, I'm kind of anxious, hesitant, and maybe just scared about some decisions we have made and are going to make.
1. We sold our truck! This is a good thing on paper, it has 156k miles on it and nothing has gone wrong on it. Which means something is right around the corner. Plus it only gets about 18-20mph and when gas returns to its $3-4 range we'll appreciate having sold it more. We sold it for $5300, that I'm a little disappointed in. Kelly Blue Book was way off in their valuation of the truck, but I couldn't really get any interest in it beyond that price. But here's what I'm kind of anxious about, change! I know the truck, inside out, I've worked on it and we've owned since day one. The next car, will be used and I'll have another learning curve.
2. We need to buy a replacement car! Now I have to get one that makes sense. Something with lower miles than the truck, one that gets 25mph-30mph, one without any major problems. You know how some cars are just known for their problems. Our Impala is known to eat coolant and ours is no exception. We've also got to get a good deal on it, or at least something under 6k which is what we saved up for plus the sell of the truck and taxes, registration.
Those two things alone are enough to make my mind a constant whirl of thoughts and emotions. It is tough to know if you're doing the right thing or not. I've prayed about it and feel good about the process but you just never know what the future holds until you're there.
3. The business! Man, just getting the designs for a business is crazy expensive! I am looking at the very real possibility of needing to spend 8-10k on this business just to see if it can be done! I always joke about wishing I had a trust fund, but seriously I am wishing I had a trust fund now. Talking with a friend Greg, I got an idea of what I'd need for the development of the land and structure about 6k, then talking with a design company for the business another 2-3k. It is that moment where you look up at a mountain and then to either side of it and try and figure out which way makes more sense or if you should turn around altogether. I don't want to lose, I don't want to make the wrong choice. I believe in the idea, but maybe not enough to put my money, fear and pride aside to continue.
1. We sold our truck! This is a good thing on paper, it has 156k miles on it and nothing has gone wrong on it. Which means something is right around the corner. Plus it only gets about 18-20mph and when gas returns to its $3-4 range we'll appreciate having sold it more. We sold it for $5300, that I'm a little disappointed in. Kelly Blue Book was way off in their valuation of the truck, but I couldn't really get any interest in it beyond that price. But here's what I'm kind of anxious about, change! I know the truck, inside out, I've worked on it and we've owned since day one. The next car, will be used and I'll have another learning curve.
2. We need to buy a replacement car! Now I have to get one that makes sense. Something with lower miles than the truck, one that gets 25mph-30mph, one without any major problems. You know how some cars are just known for their problems. Our Impala is known to eat coolant and ours is no exception. We've also got to get a good deal on it, or at least something under 6k which is what we saved up for plus the sell of the truck and taxes, registration.
Those two things alone are enough to make my mind a constant whirl of thoughts and emotions. It is tough to know if you're doing the right thing or not. I've prayed about it and feel good about the process but you just never know what the future holds until you're there.
3. The business! Man, just getting the designs for a business is crazy expensive! I am looking at the very real possibility of needing to spend 8-10k on this business just to see if it can be done! I always joke about wishing I had a trust fund, but seriously I am wishing I had a trust fund now. Talking with a friend Greg, I got an idea of what I'd need for the development of the land and structure about 6k, then talking with a design company for the business another 2-3k. It is that moment where you look up at a mountain and then to either side of it and try and figure out which way makes more sense or if you should turn around altogether. I don't want to lose, I don't want to make the wrong choice. I believe in the idea, but maybe not enough to put my money, fear and pride aside to continue.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Saturday's 10k
Wow! I'm really outta shape... where it effects me the most is mental toughness. I virtually have none. I know I can run 6.2 miles... I did it at the half-marathon just a week ago.
So I set out to once again try and hang with my more consistent friend for as long as I could in the race. I managed a little over half-way and then decided to take a break. At that point in time I waited for my wife who was walking with our baby and told her she could run while I walked with the baby. Our jogging stroller was given to us but our baby is still way to small for us to really use it for running so one of us needs to walk.
She ran until we were on the same lap and then we walk/ran the last lap together. It was what I wanted and it made the race enjoyable.
It really fired me up about getting a jog stroller that we could use now. So I bought one on Sunday. A Bob, I had been looking at other strollers but secretly wanted a Bob. I just wasn't willing to pay over $200. It was like a mental block for me. BUT on Saturday after the race I found one on craigslist (my favorite website) and scheduled to look at it on Sunday. My wife had seen in the Baby Bargain book that fixed wheel Bobs were the intersection point on quality, functionality and price so that helped sway me to buy it. I wanted a Revolution, because they look cooler, but they were soooo expensive, even used ones, and we already have a stroller for non exercise applications, which helped me realize I just want something I can take the baby jogging in without worrying if her neck got broken or if she fell forward and her face is rubbing the front tire.
So I managed to pay $190 and can't wait for my wife or myself to use it. Hopefully together!!
So I set out to once again try and hang with my more consistent friend for as long as I could in the race. I managed a little over half-way and then decided to take a break. At that point in time I waited for my wife who was walking with our baby and told her she could run while I walked with the baby. Our jogging stroller was given to us but our baby is still way to small for us to really use it for running so one of us needs to walk.
She ran until we were on the same lap and then we walk/ran the last lap together. It was what I wanted and it made the race enjoyable.
It really fired me up about getting a jog stroller that we could use now. So I bought one on Sunday. A Bob, I had been looking at other strollers but secretly wanted a Bob. I just wasn't willing to pay over $200. It was like a mental block for me. BUT on Saturday after the race I found one on craigslist (my favorite website) and scheduled to look at it on Sunday. My wife had seen in the Baby Bargain book that fixed wheel Bobs were the intersection point on quality, functionality and price so that helped sway me to buy it. I wanted a Revolution, because they look cooler, but they were soooo expensive, even used ones, and we already have a stroller for non exercise applications, which helped me realize I just want something I can take the baby jogging in without worrying if her neck got broken or if she fell forward and her face is rubbing the front tire.
So I managed to pay $190 and can't wait for my wife or myself to use it. Hopefully together!!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Business Idea
My wife had a business idea... it was a good idea, I've talked about the idea. It is a great idea...
Another idea my wife had was a Chick-Fil-A, I tried that one. Chick-Fil-A turned me down I thought because I wasn't an current or former employee but I found out that someone is already opening a Chick-Fil-A in our area. They will do very well.
BUT starting a business, "the right way," with all the documents and research and spreadsheets and organization and forms is just about as much as my ADD brain can withstand. Plus given the amount of money I'm wanting to work with it creates much doubt in my mind. When I don't have doubt, I have at least enough work to do to dissolve my focus.
I know I'm not the first person to say this, but "If I only had a million dollars!"
Right now I'm working on the business plan, most of it is boring work. I'd rather be writting an english paper in some college class. I'm getting concerned that I will not be able to get a loan for the business and all this work will have been a lot of lost lunch time training sessions. But it is a great idea, and I'm tired of just talking about great ideas.
Another idea my wife had was a Chick-Fil-A, I tried that one. Chick-Fil-A turned me down I thought because I wasn't an current or former employee but I found out that someone is already opening a Chick-Fil-A in our area. They will do very well.
BUT starting a business, "the right way," with all the documents and research and spreadsheets and organization and forms is just about as much as my ADD brain can withstand. Plus given the amount of money I'm wanting to work with it creates much doubt in my mind. When I don't have doubt, I have at least enough work to do to dissolve my focus.
I know I'm not the first person to say this, but "If I only had a million dollars!"
Right now I'm working on the business plan, most of it is boring work. I'd rather be writting an english paper in some college class. I'm getting concerned that I will not be able to get a loan for the business and all this work will have been a lot of lost lunch time training sessions. But it is a great idea, and I'm tired of just talking about great ideas.
Bike Trainer
ok so I've been looking for an indoor bike trainer for a long time...
I'm cheap and couldn't bear the thought of spending $300 for something new when I could probably find it on Craigslist for much less. While I was starting to doubt that after month of searching, I finally found a trainer I wanted on CL!!!! AND the person selling it was someone I knew! So finally last night I used it... the trainer has several resistance levels and a remote shifter so I don't have to get off my bike to change the setting.
What I learned? Indoor riding wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It actually was more fun than the stationary bikes at the gym. I need a fan that can blow in my face because I was sweating like a pig and last but most important. I've lost a lot of my fitness since the baby was born.
I'm getting a plan and hopefully we'll by a jogging stroller that we can use with the baby and we'll be able to start running some more. I would like that, my wife would like that and I know our dogs would LOVE that.
I'm cheap and couldn't bear the thought of spending $300 for something new when I could probably find it on Craigslist for much less. While I was starting to doubt that after month of searching, I finally found a trainer I wanted on CL!!!! AND the person selling it was someone I knew! So finally last night I used it... the trainer has several resistance levels and a remote shifter so I don't have to get off my bike to change the setting.
What I learned? Indoor riding wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It actually was more fun than the stationary bikes at the gym. I need a fan that can blow in my face because I was sweating like a pig and last but most important. I've lost a lot of my fitness since the baby was born.
I'm getting a plan and hopefully we'll by a jogging stroller that we can use with the baby and we'll be able to start running some more. I would like that, my wife would like that and I know our dogs would LOVE that.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
An Idea
OK so I've been working hard on an idea my wife had and said weeks ago in passing. The more I thought about the more it seemed like more than just an idea. It was a great idea. So I started asking people what they thought about how to go about accomplishing this because we'd have to borrow money. AND since we hate borrowing money because we've gone through and been very successful with Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace program, the thought requires that I be very confident that I'm making the right decision, but also that I'm borrowing the smallest amount of money I can. I'm being careful, and cautious, deliberate and thoughtful in my plans.
I'm excited, the time is now. I'm not going to let this idea go, unless I've exhausted all the options. It is a great idea, it is something I've wanted to do.
I'm excited, the time is now. I'm not going to let this idea go, unless I've exhausted all the options. It is a great idea, it is something I've wanted to do.
Rock-n-Roll
Now when we found out we were going to have the baby, people began to tell us how our life would change. When they would tell me how it would change, it was basically that all my hobbies would go out the door. I knew that they had some truth there, because everyone was telling me the same thing. But in my mind I thought, "it doesn't have to be that way!" What I didn't count on was that I would WANT to miss workouts because I wanted to spend time with the baby OR because I WANTED to give my wife some time away from the house.
As a result, I've neglected swimming and cycling and running and any other physical activity for that matter. The only bad thing is we had signed up for a half-marathon before the baby. Having not trained for this race, and relying solely on my base from the half-ironman training I did in the spring, I did it. My poor wife and to just rely on good ole' fashion blood, sweat and tears.
Before the race I started thinking it was a bad idea, at mile 1 I thought, "this was a dumb idea" and then mile 2 I thought, "am I going to make it?" And it kept getting worse until mile 4 when I decided to run to the 10k mark and walk to let my wife catch me and we could finish together.
She never caught me and I walked to the end. We finished the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon, it wasn't pretty but it helped kick-start the desire to train hard so I can be fast. Now to figure out how to make that happen.
As a result, I've neglected swimming and cycling and running and any other physical activity for that matter. The only bad thing is we had signed up for a half-marathon before the baby. Having not trained for this race, and relying solely on my base from the half-ironman training I did in the spring, I did it. My poor wife and to just rely on good ole' fashion blood, sweat and tears.
Before the race I started thinking it was a bad idea, at mile 1 I thought, "this was a dumb idea" and then mile 2 I thought, "am I going to make it?" And it kept getting worse until mile 4 when I decided to run to the 10k mark and walk to let my wife catch me and we could finish together.
She never caught me and I walked to the end. We finished the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon, it wasn't pretty but it helped kick-start the desire to train hard so I can be fast. Now to figure out how to make that happen.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Transparency
In an effort to make this a more interesting blog, instead of a boring running fanatic blog I'll try and be a little more transparent about other places that I am involved in.
I like the title of my blog, and I feel it represents me well, because I think I can do anything. It is confidence, in myself, my family, and the things God has given me. Most people interpret this as arrogance, but its not. Arrogance is where you think you can do things better than everyone else. It is an attitude of superiority. Sometimes I'll admit, I border on the arrogant side. It usually stems from having thought of and experimented solutions to a process many many times.
The problem I run into is, I hate to fail. I hate to fail publicly even more. I especially hate to fail when it involves money. And here lies today's topic, risk! I'm not a big risk taker. I don't think I've ever really been a risk taker. Now that I have a wife and daughter I'm really not a big risk taker. It has to seem like a pretty sure thing for me to invest anything into an idea that has risk. I won't even invest time, if I'm not sure about things.
The good news, I have never lost lots of money or been publicly humiliated or failed on a large scale. The bad news is I feel like I have a lot of trapped potential and sometimes holding it in is more difficult than dealing with the failure. It causes me to hate things, my commute, my house, my job, my hobbies and their expenses, and it effects my relationship with God. I hate the way I've been created. And because everyone around me does not think like me, it is difficult to find someone that can relate, advise and help me reconcile my heart and my mind. I don't have the answer, and I feel like I'm failing.
I like the title of my blog, and I feel it represents me well, because I think I can do anything. It is confidence, in myself, my family, and the things God has given me. Most people interpret this as arrogance, but its not. Arrogance is where you think you can do things better than everyone else. It is an attitude of superiority. Sometimes I'll admit, I border on the arrogant side. It usually stems from having thought of and experimented solutions to a process many many times.
The problem I run into is, I hate to fail. I hate to fail publicly even more. I especially hate to fail when it involves money. And here lies today's topic, risk! I'm not a big risk taker. I don't think I've ever really been a risk taker. Now that I have a wife and daughter I'm really not a big risk taker. It has to seem like a pretty sure thing for me to invest anything into an idea that has risk. I won't even invest time, if I'm not sure about things.
The good news, I have never lost lots of money or been publicly humiliated or failed on a large scale. The bad news is I feel like I have a lot of trapped potential and sometimes holding it in is more difficult than dealing with the failure. It causes me to hate things, my commute, my house, my job, my hobbies and their expenses, and it effects my relationship with God. I hate the way I've been created. And because everyone around me does not think like me, it is difficult to find someone that can relate, advise and help me reconcile my heart and my mind. I don't have the answer, and I feel like I'm failing.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
What is a PR?
Ok so I've pretty much quit thinking I'm gonna PR at San Antonio. I just haven't got the motivation right now to force myself through the workouts. I'm always tired and even when I get 8 hours of sleep I feel like I could sleep 2 more hours.
I think I'm gonna shoot for 8:30 min/miles... nothing spectacular but I can't waste the money I've spent on the race. Maybe when Mayzie gets older I'll try and get more serious about doing a half in under 1:30.
I think I'm gonna shoot for 8:30 min/miles... nothing spectacular but I can't waste the money I've spent on the race. Maybe when Mayzie gets older I'll try and get more serious about doing a half in under 1:30.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Vacation
OK I took a vacation, I didn't mean to but work go in the way and I was forced to conceed my workouts. HOWEVER!! I am back to work this week, although I did miss a spin class I wanted to go to yesterday. Today I had a difficult and easy workout. It was 10min warmup @ 8:30 pace and 3 x 1600m @ 6:18min/mile pace. It wasn't too bad, they were fast enough to get your heart rate up and start to make you feel the pace but 1 mile goes by quick at a 6:18min/mile pace and I had 400m of rest interval and given that it was only 3 it made it feel easy... er. Average heart rate was 148, max 181 , 558 calories, 4.5 miles in 36 mins which included the 1 mile warm-up at 8:30 and the RI @ 8:30 and a cool down. Not bad... not pro, but not bad.
I think I'm about as ready as I can be for San Antonio 13.1, it is going to be a tough race because I haven't been consistent in running at all. 7:30 is going to be my goal and I'll need help from my running group.
I think I'm about as ready as I can be for San Antonio 13.1, it is going to be a tough race because I haven't been consistent in running at all. 7:30 is going to be my goal and I'll need help from my running group.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Finally
Ok so I finally got a long run in Sunday... it was hard, but it felt good. We averaged a 8:25 over 7 miles but it was really faster since we had to stop at several stop lights and we stopped to get some water. While we were running we maintained a 7:22pace so that's not bad although I didn't feel exactly fun while it was going on, we covered the first 4 miles quick.
I feel outta shape but maybe it's mental
Today my swim workout was great, felt good. I only swam 800meters because I wanted to get to work early but still it was still a pretty good workout. Averaged was 28min/mile so it was a good pace.
I feel outta shape but maybe it's mental
Today my swim workout was great, felt good. I only swam 800meters because I wanted to get to work early but still it was still a pretty good workout. Averaged was 28min/mile so it was a good pace.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Dreaded Key #1 Workout (Intervals)
OMG!! Have I complained enough about interval workouts? They are really really hard. I don't ever remember them being this hard. I'm starting to think that maybe I do need to eat more carbs. I don't know, what it is but man these are hard. Maybe I'm just trying to go to fast.
5 x 1k (400m RI) @ 5:55min/mile... geez it just about killed me and the thing is it doesn't sound all that hard. It is a 5k with 1/4 mile rest intervals. How hard can that be? Yeah right...
The first one is hard because you're legs are used to the pace, but Heart Rate was low and the interval passes fast enough, but it is still hard. The rest are just hard because your body just went into shock from the first interval. Sometimes I wish I was just a coach and could force people to do these workouts and then enjoy their success without really doing any hard work.
Anyway, it is over but I'm dreading next week's interval already.
5 x 1k (400m RI) @ 5:55min/mile... geez it just about killed me and the thing is it doesn't sound all that hard. It is a 5k with 1/4 mile rest intervals. How hard can that be? Yeah right...
The first one is hard because you're legs are used to the pace, but Heart Rate was low and the interval passes fast enough, but it is still hard. The rest are just hard because your body just went into shock from the first interval. Sometimes I wish I was just a coach and could force people to do these workouts and then enjoy their success without really doing any hard work.
Anyway, it is over but I'm dreading next week's interval already.
Eating not so processed
Ok so I not only want to be a fast runner/triathlete, I really want to be sustainably healthy. I know I'm not always going to be able to run 5min/miles although I know a guy in his 60's that can. I'm not always going to have the time to "train," as I like to call it, but I can do things to help keep me healthy without spending a lot of time training.
I heard a motto from someone who is extremely into the healthy eating organic vegetarian crazy. Which by the way I am not. However, it did make me re-think, ok scratch that, actually think about what I'm eating. The motto was, "I avoid eating anything with a barcode." I had mostly been eating small pre-made meals, like SmartOnes or other lean options. They have a lot of salt and you really can't control any part of how it is made except how hot it gets in the microwave. Now again I'm not an extremist but it got me to think about my food choices and how fresh they are. My first attempts were to eat more fruits instead of hard candy. I had some varied success, mostly eating more fruit, which was good, but not necessarily cutting out the candy.
I don't really like salads, so I resorted to cooking and grilling vegetables or steaming frozen vegetables. This worked well up until the baby was born. Then I ate everything people brought over and didn't exercise. I gained 9lbs. Now I've started eating more salads because I'd like to lose some weight and I want to keep my salt and carb intake down. Plus I want to make sure I get all my nutrients in without vitamins. This coupled with the fact that my wife and I have less money, we've had to really plan better for our meals. Last month, not so good. This month, we've done great so far. One of the benefits of planning is we could buy fresh things to eat at home and take to work. Everyday I eat a salad, and take some kind of vegetable. Today I ate a tuna fish sandwich and a chicken sandwich to help get some protein.
It still has a lot of processed stuff, like the tuna, the chicken and the bread, but remember I'm not an extremist but I have added the vegetables and salads so that I'm not eating ALL processed foods.
I heard a motto from someone who is extremely into the healthy eating organic vegetarian crazy. Which by the way I am not. However, it did make me re-think, ok scratch that, actually think about what I'm eating. The motto was, "I avoid eating anything with a barcode." I had mostly been eating small pre-made meals, like SmartOnes or other lean options. They have a lot of salt and you really can't control any part of how it is made except how hot it gets in the microwave. Now again I'm not an extremist but it got me to think about my food choices and how fresh they are. My first attempts were to eat more fruits instead of hard candy. I had some varied success, mostly eating more fruit, which was good, but not necessarily cutting out the candy.
I don't really like salads, so I resorted to cooking and grilling vegetables or steaming frozen vegetables. This worked well up until the baby was born. Then I ate everything people brought over and didn't exercise. I gained 9lbs. Now I've started eating more salads because I'd like to lose some weight and I want to keep my salt and carb intake down. Plus I want to make sure I get all my nutrients in without vitamins. This coupled with the fact that my wife and I have less money, we've had to really plan better for our meals. Last month, not so good. This month, we've done great so far. One of the benefits of planning is we could buy fresh things to eat at home and take to work. Everyday I eat a salad, and take some kind of vegetable. Today I ate a tuna fish sandwich and a chicken sandwich to help get some protein.
It still has a lot of processed stuff, like the tuna, the chicken and the bread, but remember I'm not an extremist but I have added the vegetables and salads so that I'm not eating ALL processed foods.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sleep
I don't know how most people are, but I have to have close to 8 hours of sleep. If I don't I don't even remember turning off my alarm. Despite telling myself before I go to bed, no matter what you have to get up in the morning to workout. I don't even know I've turned off my alarm!! Even if I do manage to get to the gym when I'm that tired, I normally just sit in the hot tub.
SO maybe I need to focus more on getting sleep instead of what workout I'm going to do in the morning.
SO maybe I need to focus more on getting sleep instead of what workout I'm going to do in the morning.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Baby baby baby!
Ok so the baby is great. I love the baby. I can't describe how much I love the baby. I would do anything for the baby. BUT the baby woke up a lot last night. I still got a lot of sleep, thanks to my great and also tired wife. However, when you don't get continuous sleep, you might as well not have gotten much sleep....
I slept in, that's right I didn't just hit the snooze, I turned off the alarm! That's bad... really bad when you have a half-marathon coming up in 6 weeks. Even more so when you have a 100k race coming up in 15 weeks.
The thing is we know she can sleep through the night, just not last night. oh well she is a cute baby.
I'm probably not going to get to workout today... if that wasn't enough, today was food day at work. I really need to do something.
I slept in, that's right I didn't just hit the snooze, I turned off the alarm! That's bad... really bad when you have a half-marathon coming up in 6 weeks. Even more so when you have a 100k race coming up in 15 weeks.
The thing is we know she can sleep through the night, just not last night. oh well she is a cute baby.
I'm probably not going to get to workout today... if that wasn't enough, today was food day at work. I really need to do something.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Ah running
So yesterday I didn't get to do my run workout like I said, I went home instead and ate lungh with D'Lane and Mayzie. It was way better than a hard interval workout and man are those key#1 workouts tough. Physcially yeah, but 30 seconds into the rest interval and my heart rate has dropped 20bpm it is the mentally tough part that is hard to shake. It is easy just to run 5 miles but to train to run fast, interval workouts have to be the hardest there are. I guess it helps train your body and mind to suffer during a race but gosh I wish it was easier to learn to suffer. I'm sure there is something spiritual in there, but my brain doesn't connect the two easily.
Having said all that, I ran at the 5:45 pace today and had the thought, I should bump up my inteval speeds. :-) I love running fast, I love running faster than everyone or at least running up front with the fast people. I want to be fast.
Missed the swim workout this morning, but it is alright swimming is turning into my strong sport. I haven't ridden my bike in months.
Having said all that, I ran at the 5:45 pace today and had the thought, I should bump up my inteval speeds. :-) I love running fast, I love running faster than everyone or at least running up front with the fast people. I want to be fast.
Missed the swim workout this morning, but it is alright swimming is turning into my strong sport. I haven't ridden my bike in months.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Making Progress
Ok so today I woke up at 5am hit snooze, woke up at 5:15 and hit snooze. The baby woke up and the same time and forced me to get up. I didn't want that help but I'm glad I didn't miss another workout.
I've been really trying to cut back on carbs and eat more protien to lose the weight I've gained and I think today I finally saw some of that benefit. I've lost about 1.25lbs! I'm down to 158.6 which is a far cry from the 151.3 I was the weekend the baby was born but progress is progress.
Also, I stopped running in the mornings because the workouts are really mentally tough and after being forced out of bed at 5am my mental toughness isn't there by the time I get to the gym. So the quality of the workout suffers. Instead I started doing my cross-training which is still tough during the moment.
90 lunges w/ 20# bar
40 crunches
40 pushups
40 pushups on incline
40 tricep dips
I do 4 sets of 10 for everything except lunges which are sets of 15 without a break. It makes it pretty challenging plus it is a quick workout. At lunch I'll do my interval run workout and report how it went... here it is to ponder. I'm already dreading it... but the half-marathon is in a little over 6 weeks. So I need to get serious.
1200m @ 6:15
1000m @ 6:10
800m @ 6:05
600m @ 6:00
400m @ 5:45
200m @ 5:15
with 200m rest interval between sets.
I've been really trying to cut back on carbs and eat more protien to lose the weight I've gained and I think today I finally saw some of that benefit. I've lost about 1.25lbs! I'm down to 158.6 which is a far cry from the 151.3 I was the weekend the baby was born but progress is progress.
Also, I stopped running in the mornings because the workouts are really mentally tough and after being forced out of bed at 5am my mental toughness isn't there by the time I get to the gym. So the quality of the workout suffers. Instead I started doing my cross-training which is still tough during the moment.
90 lunges w/ 20# bar
40 crunches
40 pushups
40 pushups on incline
40 tricep dips
I do 4 sets of 10 for everything except lunges which are sets of 15 without a break. It makes it pretty challenging plus it is a quick workout. At lunch I'll do my interval run workout and report how it went... here it is to ponder. I'm already dreading it... but the half-marathon is in a little over 6 weeks. So I need to get serious.
1200m @ 6:15
1000m @ 6:10
800m @ 6:05
600m @ 6:00
400m @ 5:45
200m @ 5:15
with 200m rest interval between sets.
Monday, September 28, 2009
More slacking
Ok so today, I slept in... it felt great. I was tired, I kind of felt guilty... until I woke up at 7:15am 2 hours and 15 minutes after my alarm went off. All guilt was lost and I went to work knowing I couldn't overeat.
Unfortunately a co-worker of mine bought me a 3lb bag of gummi bears. So I went at lunch to make up my missed swim workout and ended up swimming 400meters with the pull bouy and paddles and then 1200meters with just the pull bouy. No legs, all upper body pull... 1600meters in 28:58. I was slightly disappointed because I was working so hard but that's not bad for no legs.
Tomorrow I am going to run and then do my cross-training workout that I didn't do today, but I have to work late! Ugh!
Unfortunately a co-worker of mine bought me a 3lb bag of gummi bears. So I went at lunch to make up my missed swim workout and ended up swimming 400meters with the pull bouy and paddles and then 1200meters with just the pull bouy. No legs, all upper body pull... 1600meters in 28:58. I was slightly disappointed because I was working so hard but that's not bad for no legs.
Tomorrow I am going to run and then do my cross-training workout that I didn't do today, but I have to work late! Ugh!
Friday, September 25, 2009
If I'm were to be a fish... I would be a flounder
ok I am going to sign up for a short race. Something like 5k or less if I can find one, I need to get myself to run faster. I trained for the Half-Ironman to run at a 7min/mi pace and it is stuck in my muscles.
I totally skipped out of all workouts yesterday. I sat in the hot tub in the morning and in the afternoon I wasted my money on a mocha at Barnes & Noble and read about "off-season" tri workouts. Kind of ironic huh? Skipping a workout to read about working out... that kept running through my mind as I sipped that great tasting mocha.
Anyway today I climbed back on the wagon because I keep thinking about how quickly life changes, and then doesn't stop for you to catch up. Justin, a fellow runner, who I mentioned earlier this week is still in a coma. Right now Justin has lost a week, and he didn't have a choice about it. I have a choice.
This morning I swam a 1/2 mile in 14:30, mostly working on technique. I have a terrible tendency to drop my arm during the glide before I start the pull. Which isn't usually a problem if you're swimming really fast but during longer swim races you tend to glide more. Plus it reinforces good reach before the pull. It was good workout, if I had more time I should have swim a mile.
And since I skipped my run workout yesterday morning, I went ahead an ran during lunch. The training plan for the half-marathon said 2miles easy (7:45 pace) and 3miles at my 10k pace (6:45.) I did it with a .5 incline on the treadmill, everything was pretty good, first mile was 8min as I was warming up and the 2nd mile was a 7:30, mile 3 was great 6:50 and I was feeling good my HR was in the 170's and I was feeling it. Mile 4 I had to walked for about two minutes. SO I knew I had some work to do, I pushed myself through the rest of 4 and managed to average a 8:15 pace and then mile 5 I turned it up and came in with a 6:15min/mi effort. The total time was just under 37 mins. My max HR was 185, and my average was 157. It was close to what I should have ran, but I wasn't tough enough to push through the pain at mile 4. I need to work on remembering my goals during a run. I can do it, I just need to remember I can do it. Instead I took a break and then had to work harder than I would have needed to inorder to finish with the time I wanted. That's kind of why I want a race to do, I love running fast and being up front helps me to practice pushing myself through my body's desire to quit.
I am sooo glad Andi is going to be doing this 100k with me, I would have quit. I know it. Because I'm not crazy enough to want to run 62miles, much less by myself. I still think 100k is going to be the dumbest thing I've done.
7 weeks until the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon... I'm a bit hesitant but I'm gonna be ready for PR
I totally skipped out of all workouts yesterday. I sat in the hot tub in the morning and in the afternoon I wasted my money on a mocha at Barnes & Noble and read about "off-season" tri workouts. Kind of ironic huh? Skipping a workout to read about working out... that kept running through my mind as I sipped that great tasting mocha.
Anyway today I climbed back on the wagon because I keep thinking about how quickly life changes, and then doesn't stop for you to catch up. Justin, a fellow runner, who I mentioned earlier this week is still in a coma. Right now Justin has lost a week, and he didn't have a choice about it. I have a choice.
This morning I swam a 1/2 mile in 14:30, mostly working on technique. I have a terrible tendency to drop my arm during the glide before I start the pull. Which isn't usually a problem if you're swimming really fast but during longer swim races you tend to glide more. Plus it reinforces good reach before the pull. It was good workout, if I had more time I should have swim a mile.
And since I skipped my run workout yesterday morning, I went ahead an ran during lunch. The training plan for the half-marathon said 2miles easy (7:45 pace) and 3miles at my 10k pace (6:45.) I did it with a .5 incline on the treadmill, everything was pretty good, first mile was 8min as I was warming up and the 2nd mile was a 7:30, mile 3 was great 6:50 and I was feeling good my HR was in the 170's and I was feeling it. Mile 4 I had to walked for about two minutes. SO I knew I had some work to do, I pushed myself through the rest of 4 and managed to average a 8:15 pace and then mile 5 I turned it up and came in with a 6:15min/mi effort. The total time was just under 37 mins. My max HR was 185, and my average was 157. It was close to what I should have ran, but I wasn't tough enough to push through the pain at mile 4. I need to work on remembering my goals during a run. I can do it, I just need to remember I can do it. Instead I took a break and then had to work harder than I would have needed to inorder to finish with the time I wanted. That's kind of why I want a race to do, I love running fast and being up front helps me to practice pushing myself through my body's desire to quit.
I am sooo glad Andi is going to be doing this 100k with me, I would have quit. I know it. Because I'm not crazy enough to want to run 62miles, much less by myself. I still think 100k is going to be the dumbest thing I've done.
7 weeks until the Rock n Roll Half-Marathon... I'm a bit hesitant but I'm gonna be ready for PR
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Cross-training & running
Yesterday, I had a great swim workout. I used to hate swimming. I would avoid it, substitute run workouts and bike workouts for swim workouts, but now... I love them. I would rather swim, except it doesn't burn the same number of calories per time spent as running or biking does. Sure it is a great workout, but it doesn't help keep a quick run pace. Anyway I love swimming. Yesterday I swam 1/2 mile (800meters or 16laps) in 12 minutes. Then at lunch I did
20 pushups
20 pushups with feet elevated
40 tricep dips
80 lunges with 20# bar
40 crunches on exercise ball
150 step-ups with a clean and press (20# bar)
I'm sore!
Today, I ran 6x800 interval w/ 90sec rest interval. Yuck! Sometimes I hate my key#1 running workouts. Today was no exception, I really had to remind myself that I have a goal and I'm lucky to be able to set such a goal, so I need to give it everything I have to achieve it, because I can. I made it through my 6x800 with a 6:18min/mi pace. My HR was really high during the run interval in the upper 170's and lower 180's and boy could I feel it. I started getting short on breath on the 5th interval and I looked at my HR and it was at 183. It reminded me that I have a lot of work to do if I'm running a 6:18min/mile with a HR of 183.
IF you count this week, there are only 8 weeks left until the Rock n' Roll Half-Marathon... I'm thinking I've got a lot of work to get under 1:35, it is probably more realistic that I'll run it in 1:45, oh well I should be happy with that.
20 pushups
20 pushups with feet elevated
40 tricep dips
80 lunges with 20# bar
40 crunches on exercise ball
150 step-ups with a clean and press (20# bar)
I'm sore!
Today, I ran 6x800 interval w/ 90sec rest interval. Yuck! Sometimes I hate my key#1 running workouts. Today was no exception, I really had to remind myself that I have a goal and I'm lucky to be able to set such a goal, so I need to give it everything I have to achieve it, because I can. I made it through my 6x800 with a 6:18min/mi pace. My HR was really high during the run interval in the upper 170's and lower 180's and boy could I feel it. I started getting short on breath on the 5th interval and I looked at my HR and it was at 183. It reminded me that I have a lot of work to do if I'm running a 6:18min/mile with a HR of 183.
IF you count this week, there are only 8 weeks left until the Rock n' Roll Half-Marathon... I'm thinking I've got a lot of work to get under 1:35, it is probably more realistic that I'll run it in 1:45, oh well I should be happy with that.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Glad that's over
Yesterday was supposed to be my Key #2 workout for week 17 BUT I just got into the hot tub and sat there for 20 minutes. It was nice, I did feel guilty for not running because I have this stupid 100k race coming up, but it was nice.
Last night, I learned than a guy I ran x-country with in high school fell into a creek bed and suffered a head injury. It was a good runner in high school, ran in college and finished 10th in the Austin Nike+ 10k. The one Lance Armstrong finished 7th in. So needless to say again, he was fast and was a good runner.
SO today I forced myself to run because I knew that he was laying in a hospital and I wasn't. He would love to have been running and right now he is on life support. It wasn't pretty but I finished my 5 miles run with a slow 7:45min/mi pace @ 159 avg BPM. It was a 725kcal effort which is good, I need to get rid of some of this fat I picked up from 10 weeks of inactivity.
I need to remember I'm forunate enough to be healthy, live under freedom, have money and great family. God has given me much.
Last night, I learned than a guy I ran x-country with in high school fell into a creek bed and suffered a head injury. It was a good runner in high school, ran in college and finished 10th in the Austin Nike+ 10k. The one Lance Armstrong finished 7th in. So needless to say again, he was fast and was a good runner.
SO today I forced myself to run because I knew that he was laying in a hospital and I wasn't. He would love to have been running and right now he is on life support. It wasn't pretty but I finished my 5 miles run with a slow 7:45min/mi pace @ 159 avg BPM. It was a 725kcal effort which is good, I need to get rid of some of this fat I picked up from 10 weeks of inactivity.
I need to remember I'm forunate enough to be healthy, live under freedom, have money and great family. God has given me much.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Burnout
I can't tell if I'm burned out or just not getting enough sleep.
I don't want to run, in fact I avoid running. Even though every time I finish running, I feel great and my times were better than I expected, I still can't muster the desire to run. This morning I was supposed to run 400, 600, 800, 1200, 800, 600, 400 (with a 400m rest interval) all of the target times were with a pace 5:45 to 6:30min/mile. I didn't run it, and I almost talked myself out of running all together. BUT I started warming up and talked myself into running 5km so that I could at least say I ran. It started off really slow 8-8:30min/mi and it felt like every bone in my legs were hurting. But after 1/2 mi things were warm and I was in the mid 7's and the heart rate was hovering in the upper 150's. I felt great and by the end of the 5km I was running in the lower 6's with the HR in the upper 170's. I had lost a little since my wife had the baby and I pretty much quit training, but I was very happy with today's effort. I easily held the 7 min/mi pace and kept thinking about how good I felt. My avg HR was 156bpm. I should have done the interval workout. I still can't believe I'm going to attempt to run 62miles. That still sounds stupid!
I've been eating really well, but I haven't been tracking it well. Need to do better.
I don't want to run, in fact I avoid running. Even though every time I finish running, I feel great and my times were better than I expected, I still can't muster the desire to run. This morning I was supposed to run 400, 600, 800, 1200, 800, 600, 400 (with a 400m rest interval) all of the target times were with a pace 5:45 to 6:30min/mile. I didn't run it, and I almost talked myself out of running all together. BUT I started warming up and talked myself into running 5km so that I could at least say I ran. It started off really slow 8-8:30min/mi and it felt like every bone in my legs were hurting. But after 1/2 mi things were warm and I was in the mid 7's and the heart rate was hovering in the upper 150's. I felt great and by the end of the 5km I was running in the lower 6's with the HR in the upper 170's. I had lost a little since my wife had the baby and I pretty much quit training, but I was very happy with today's effort. I easily held the 7 min/mi pace and kept thinking about how good I felt. My avg HR was 156bpm. I should have done the interval workout. I still can't believe I'm going to attempt to run 62miles. That still sounds stupid!
I've been eating really well, but I haven't been tracking it well. Need to do better.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Today
So I really like the baby, she's great fun. So much fun that I don't want to work. Couple that with a million ideas in my brain and I think I want to quit my job and start a business. I don't know what kind of business but I know it would mean I'd still have to work while that was all getting started and now I'm depressed.
I skipped my Key #1 workout this morning. I use the 1/2 marathon training program from the Furman Insitute of Running and Science Technology to train for the run portion of the half-ironman. Since we are 18 weeks from this 100k my wife's cousin and I decided to do (her idea.) Today was supposed to be my first run day. I skipped it because I was feeling too blah about having to work while my baby grew-up before I could enjoy her.
I did however go to Yoga, and burned 178 calories and had a great time. It really picked me up and now I'm really regreting missing that workout. That and the fact I ate two Breakfast Burritos from McDonald's (worse than missing a workout.) I'm really behind for this training.
Check out my diet for today at The Daily Plate on Livestrong.com I am registered as truck38.
I skipped my Key #1 workout this morning. I use the 1/2 marathon training program from the Furman Insitute of Running and Science Technology to train for the run portion of the half-ironman. Since we are 18 weeks from this 100k my wife's cousin and I decided to do (her idea.) Today was supposed to be my first run day. I skipped it because I was feeling too blah about having to work while my baby grew-up before I could enjoy her.
I did however go to Yoga, and burned 178 calories and had a great time. It really picked me up and now I'm really regreting missing that workout. That and the fact I ate two Breakfast Burritos from McDonald's (worse than missing a workout.) I'm really behind for this training.
Check out my diet for today at The Daily Plate on Livestrong.com I am registered as truck38.
Some Background and The Goal
So just to give you an idea about me, I am 29 years old with a 2 1/2 month old baby. I'm married and have a great wife who is despite what she thinks very good at endurance sports. I love trying new things(hobbies) especially things that would make most people think I'm crazy. Sometimes
A few years ago I was at home sick with a cold and flipping through the channels when I came across the Kona Ironman World Championship on the TV. It was the year (2006) that Jon Blaise could not compete in the IM and after watching this I felt inspired to push myself and complete an Ironman. So I started training, since then it has become a lifestyle. I've started eating better, exercising sometimes several hours a day and wishing my job had a shower so I could ride my bike to work everyday.
I should also mention that I hate doing something just to do it. I want to be good at it, and be competitive. My goal has always been to qualify for Kona, but I like the 70.3 distance and want Clearwater.
Here's what I've done so far:
2 - 10k's
5 - Sprint Triathlons
1 - Marathon (although I didn't finish because I hurt my foot)
1 - 1/2 Ironman (The baby was born the day I was supposed to complete the 2nd 70.3)
Here's what's coming up:
1/2 Marathon (November 2009)
100k Trail Race (January 2010)
The Rookie Tri (May 2010)
Buffalo Springs 70.3 (June 2010)
This blog will record my training, what I eat, and just general thoughts about the whole experience. I have self-diagnosed myself with ADD so if I don't post for a few days, don't give up I've just got distracted.
A few years ago I was at home sick with a cold and flipping through the channels when I came across the Kona Ironman World Championship on the TV. It was the year (2006) that Jon Blaise could not compete in the IM and after watching this I felt inspired to push myself and complete an Ironman. So I started training, since then it has become a lifestyle. I've started eating better, exercising sometimes several hours a day and wishing my job had a shower so I could ride my bike to work everyday.
I should also mention that I hate doing something just to do it. I want to be good at it, and be competitive. My goal has always been to qualify for Kona, but I like the 70.3 distance and want Clearwater.
Here's what I've done so far:
2 - 10k's
5 - Sprint Triathlons
1 - Marathon (although I didn't finish because I hurt my foot)
1 - 1/2 Ironman (The baby was born the day I was supposed to complete the 2nd 70.3)
Here's what's coming up:
1/2 Marathon (November 2009)
100k Trail Race (January 2010)
The Rookie Tri (May 2010)
Buffalo Springs 70.3 (June 2010)
This blog will record my training, what I eat, and just general thoughts about the whole experience. I have self-diagnosed myself with ADD so if I don't post for a few days, don't give up I've just got distracted.
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